SECTION XII

Bias Incidents

INTRODUCTION

Crimes motivated by hate and bias tend to erode the basic fabric of society.
Bias incidents having a racial, religious, ethnic, sexual or gender component
as well as crimes against individuals with a handicap, manifest themselves
in a wide spectrum of criminal activities. These bias incidents jeopardize
the active and open pursuit of freedom and opportunity. They attack our
citizens based on their race, religion, ethnic heritage, sexual orientation,
handicap, or gender. Closely linked to such heritage are individual values,
beliefs, and identities.

Realizing that no agency within the state was collecting complete data
on bias incidents, a broad-based Ad Hoc committee was created to develop
a comprehensive statewide reporting system. As a result of the committee's
recommendation, Attorney General Executive Directive No. 1987-3 was issued
mandating all New Jersey law enforcement agencies to begin reporting bias
incident offenses to the Division of State Police, Uniform Crime Reporting
Unit, on a monthly basis, effective January 1, 1988. On August 15, 1996,
legislation was enacted which enhanced the state's definition of a bias
incident to include crimes that are gender or handicap-motivated.

The directive was instituted to capture vital data in an effort to identify
the problem. This information permits proper evaluation of progress in
preventing bias crime and assist with necessary planning for the future.

This is the thirteenth annual publication concerning bias crimes, which
contains comparisons to the previous year's statistics. The published
statistics and graphs are the result of data submitted by the police community
of New Jersey.

Hopefully, the information contained in this publication will be of value
to various segments of society and serve its intended purpose.